Research enhancements of or through the field of digital artifacts
Scientific Innovation (23)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 6 min
- The Guardian
- 2019
Across the globe, conflicting feelings exist about how “human” robots ought to be, and if humanoid machines are a positive or negative.
- The Guardian
- 2019
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- 6 min
- The Guardian
- 2019
Being Human: How Realistic Do We Want Robots To Be?
Across the globe, conflicting feelings exist about how “human” robots ought to be, and if humanoid machines are a positive or negative.
Discussion Prompts:
Would it make it easier to interact with a robot that looks human? What defines an authentic human life experience if robots become capable of imitating our specific characteristics indistinguishably well?
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2021
This narrative describes the recent AI Incident Database launched at the end of 2020, where companies report case studies in which applied machine learning algorithms did not function as intended or caused real-world harm. The goal is to operate in a sense similar to air travel safety report programs; with this database, technological developers can get a sense of how to make algorithms which are more safe and fair while having the incentive to take precautions to stay off the list.
- Wired
- 2021
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2021
Don’t End Up on This Artificial Intelligence Hall of Shame
This narrative describes the recent AI Incident Database launched at the end of 2020, where companies report case studies in which applied machine learning algorithms did not function as intended or caused real-world harm. The goal is to operate in a sense similar to air travel safety report programs; with this database, technological developers can get a sense of how to make algorithms which are more safe and fair while having the incentive to take precautions to stay off the list.
Discussion Prompts:
What is your opinion on this method of accountability? Is there anything it does not take into account? Is it possible that some machine learning algorithms make mistakes that cannot even be detected by humans? How can this be avoided? How can the inner workings of machine learning algorithms be made more understandable and digestible by the general public?
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- The Robot Report
- 2021
The article explains the working definition of Brain Computer Interface technologies (BCI), the current startup BCI tech companies in this sector which mostly focus on BCI applications for assistive prosthetics.
- The Robot Report
- 2021
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- The Robot Report
- 2021
Brain-computer interface startups augmenting human body
The article explains the working definition of Brain Computer Interface technologies (BCI), the current startup BCI tech companies in this sector which mostly focus on BCI applications for assistive prosthetics.
Discussion Prompts:
How do BCI technologies make the world “safer”, “more productive”, and “more accessible”? How are these terms defined in the article and by whom? In what ways does the article discuss co-design methods used with prosthetics users? How well do you beleive these potential BCI users understand the short and long term risks of this emerging medical technology? How well does the article discuss the potential harms?
- ZDNet
- 2021
Alexa Conversations improves its quality of natural language processing as users feed them sample conversations. This feedback system allows Alexa Conversations to cut costs of training developers and managing related data.
- ZDNet
- 2021
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- ZDNet
- 2021
Amazon makes Alexa Conversations generally available
Alexa Conversations improves its quality of natural language processing as users feed them sample conversations. This feedback system allows Alexa Conversations to cut costs of training developers and managing related data.
Discussion Prompts:
What are some measures you think technology companies should implement to ensure the protection of users’ privacy? What role do you think the government should play?
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- 10 min
- Engadget
- 2021
This article provides an excerpt from a book detailing the “Brooksian Revolution,” a movement in the 1980s pressing the idea that the “intelligence” of AI should start from a foundation of acute awareness of its environment, rather than “typical” indicators of intelligence such as pure logic or problem solving. By principle, a reasoning machine-learning loop that operates off of a one-time perception of its environment is inherently disconnected from its environment.
- Engadget
- 2021
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- 10 min
- Engadget
- 2021
Hitting the Books: The Brooksian revolution that led to rational robots
This article provides an excerpt from a book detailing the “Brooksian Revolution,” a movement in the 1980s pressing the idea that the “intelligence” of AI should start from a foundation of acute awareness of its environment, rather than “typical” indicators of intelligence such as pure logic or problem solving. By principle, a reasoning machine-learning loop that operates off of a one-time perception of its environment is inherently disconnected from its environment.
Discussion Prompts:
Why is an environment important to cognition, both that of humans and machines? Will robots ever be able to abstract the world, or model it, in the same way that the human brain can? Are there dangers to robots being strictly “rational” and decoupled from their environments? Are there dangers to robots being too connected to their environments?
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- 5 min
- Big Think
This video, narrated by science fiction author Ken MacLeod, explains how the cultural critiques presented in science fiction can be helpful in guiding inventors through how they might invent ethically, and what the primary societal concerns of a certain invention would be. Uses the example of robots as representative of labor issues to make the case that while science fiction plays a role in inspiring inventors and engineers, it should also lead them to question how technologies can be deployed ethically in different societal contexts.
- Big Think
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- 5 min
- Big Think
How sci-fi helps humanity avoid species-level mistakes
This video, narrated by science fiction author Ken MacLeod, explains how the cultural critiques presented in science fiction can be helpful in guiding inventors through how they might invent ethically, and what the primary societal concerns of a certain invention would be. Uses the example of robots as representative of labor issues to make the case that while science fiction plays a role in inspiring inventors and engineers, it should also lead them to question how technologies can be deployed ethically in different societal contexts.
Discussion Prompts:
What steps need to be taken for science fiction to be taken more seriously as a predictor of technologies or a propædeutic to ethics? What narratives from this “age of singularity” could you point to as particularly prescient or useful for discussing ethical concerns?
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